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Big Enos and Little Enos offer retiring Sheriff Buford T. Justice a wager, betting $250,000 against his badge on his ability to transport a large stuffed fish from Florida to Texas. Buford picks up the fish and starts driving with his son, Junior.

The Enoses set many traps, but Buford dodges them, so they try to hire the Bandit to stop him. Deciding that the original Bandit is too hard to manage, they hire the Snowman to act as the Bandit. The new Snowman/Bandit parks his truck so he can drive a black and gold 1983 Pontiac Trans Am.

The Bandit picks up Dusty, who quits her job at a used car dealership. The Bandit catches up with Buford and steals the fish. Buford pursues the Bandit, with another local officer who attempts to take charge of the situation. Both police cars are disabled in the chase.

Buford catches up after the Bandit and Dusty stop at a redneck bar to eat. The chase then creates mass chaos in a local town. The Bandit escapes when an 18-wheeler blocks the alleyway where the Bandit ran through on foot. While trying to get the truck out, Buford's car is towed, but he reverses the car and escapes. The tow truck operator chases him, with Junior spinning on the hook. Buford makes the truck flip over, sending Junior flying. Other cars crash into the pile-up.

Buford chases the Bandit in the Mississippi Fairgrounds. Buford's car is thrown up on two side wheels by an incline, but he continues the pursuit while driving on two wheels.

At night, the Bandit and Dusty stop at a hotel, where people are involved in sexual acts, some deviant. Buford sees the Bandit's Trans-Am parked there, and searches for the fish, which he finds. Buford thinks he found the Bandit in the sauna, but it turns out to be a muscular woman who bonds with him.

The next day, two of Buford's tires are blown by the "Enos Devil Darts". The Bandit retakes the fish. Buford pursues on the remaining two tires, first through a herd of cattle, then through parked boats, then through a field where the Eniuses set off explosions, one of which destroys all the exterior protection save the engine, seat, and lights, which Junior is holding above his head. The Bandit decides to surrender the fish to let Buford win. Just after getting the prize money, Buford finds the Bandit, but he is shown as the original Burt Reynolds bandit, who sweet talks him to letting him go and starting a new pursuit. Junior is left behind, dropping all the money.

The film was originally entitled Smokey IS the Bandit, and did not include Jerry Reed in the cast. Contemporary newspapers refer to original plans to feature Gleason as both "Smokey" and "Bandit",[3] and Reed's name does not appear in early promotional materials or newspaper accounts during the film's production. According to some accounts, Jackie Gleason was to play two roles: Sheriff Buford T. Justice and a different "Bandit". The original version was shot in October 1982. Reportedly test audiences reacted poorly, finding Gleason's two roles confusing, so the studio opted to do reshoots in April 1983.[4] The Bandit scenes were re-shot with Jerry Reed playing the role. Other accounts indicate that the title was more literal: that Gleason was to play only Sheriff Justice, but the character would also fill the role of "Bandit", by taking the Enos family's challenge (as Reynolds' character had done in the previous films).[5] In a teaser trailer for the film (billed as Smokey Is the Bandit), Gleason appears in character as Justice, explaining to the audience that to defeat the Bandit he would adopt the attributes of his prey, "becoming [my] own worst enemy". A publicity still of Gleason apparently shows him in costume as the Bandit.[6]

Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 received negative reviews by critics, the film was generally regarded as the weakest of the three "Bandit" films, in terms of both storyline and revenue. It received an approval rating of 20% on review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes based on 5 reviews.[7]Janet Maslin of The New York Times gave the film a negative review stating "The already skimpy running time of Smokey and the Bandit, Part 3 is padded by an opening montage of earlier Smokey scenes, including shots of Burt Reynolds lounging in a zebra- print hammock. He is grinning, as well he might, because he has been able to sit out Part 3 altogether. What has he missed? An interminable car chase punctuated by dumb stunts and even dumber dialogue, plus the well-worth-missing sight of Paul Williams in a dress."[8] Despite the enormous financial success of the original film (grossing over $300 million on a budget of less than $5 million), coupled with respectable (though significantly lower) numbers generated by the sequel, the third installment was both a critical and box office flop, grossing only $7,000,000 against the film's $9,000,000 budget.